Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 11; 2 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 24; 1 Timothy 6
Scripture: 2 Kings 12:4-12
4 Joash said to the priests, "Collect all the money that is brought as sacred offerings to the temple of the LORD -the money collected in the census, the money received from personal vows and the money brought voluntarily to the temple. 5 Let every priest receive the money from one of the treasurers, and let it be used to repair whatever damage is found in the temple."
6 But by the twenty-third year of King Joash the priests still had not repaired the temple. 7 Therefore King Joash summoned Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and asked them, "Why aren't you repairing the damage done to the temple? Take no more money from your treasurers, but hand it over for repairing the temple." 8 The priests agreed that they would not collect any more money from the people and that they would not repair the temple themselves.
9 Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid. He placed it beside the altar, on the right side as one enters the temple of the LORD. The priests who guarded the entrance put into the chest all the money that was brought to the temple of the LORD. 10 Whenever they saw that there was a large amount of money in the chest, the royal secretary and the high priest came, counted the money that had been brought into the temple of the LORD and put it into bags. 11 When the amount had been determined, they gave the money to the men appointed to supervise the work on the temple. With it they paid those who worked on the temple of the LORD -the carpenters and builders, 12 the masons and stonecutters. They purchased timber and dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the LORD, and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple.
Observation: What an interesting peek into the inner workings of the temple repair project. I am amused that human nature has not changed -- these people deal with the same issues that we do. First, I notice that when the money is given directly to the priests nothing got done. Why? Because there were three things missing. First, there did not seem to be any real specific plan -- just a general instruction: "repair whatever damage is found." Second, there was no accountability. Neither the money nor the work had any reporting and evaluation attached to it. So the money went to the priests and though they may have had good intentions, nothing was accomplished. The third thing lacking is a match between tasks and giftings. These were priests -- good at sacrifices and other temple duties, but probably not so good at carpentry, masonry, etc. When they fixed these three things, the job went forward and it got done.
[I love the way the money was collected: a big box with a hole on the top! And when it got full, there were at least two people counting and bagging the funds. That's how we do it today. It keeps everybody honest and removes the temptation to steal.]
Application: These three things are things we all need. A plan, accountability, and a good match between tasks and giftings.
A plan is essential if we are going to get anything done. "Shoot for nothing and you will hit it every time!" "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." "Plan your work and work your plan."
Accountability is a system with someone to report to who evaluates our status and/or progress and helps us improve. Without accountability we gravitate toward the temptations that every person faces daily: pride, lust, greed, laziness. It is too easy to lie to ourselves about what is going on in our lives. We need someone else to help us get on and stay on track.
A good match between the tasks and giftings is essential for long-term happiness and a sense of fulfillment. If I am doing a job that I am ill suited for, I may be able to get the job done, but it will be a toil and a frustration. If you work at what you are good at and what you love to do, your work will be a joy and give a sense of fulfillment.
Prayer: Lord, help us to learn these lessons and take steps to build our lives on a solid footing. May we take the practical measures to make our live and the lives of others better. Help us to find the purpose and destiny You created us for and to live it out to the fullest.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
3 comments:
I love the practical wisdom of the Bible! The three points you mentioned are in all the business and life "success" books that I have read authored by secular and religious leaders. These pearls of wisdom have been with us for milleniums and yet many feel they are "new" and revolutionary truths thought up by people like Donald Trump. We just need to live in the wisdom we're given and we too can be a smashing success.
On another different note from today's reading; what struck me from the life of Joash was the contrast between his earlier years compared with his later years. In his early years he did much good and his entire country was blessed as a result, but in just a few years in his later life he did so much evil that when he died he was not given the honor of being buried with the other kings. This kind of knocks a hole (along with many other scriptures) in the "once saved, always saved" doctrine. God never forsakes us but we can certainly forsake Him and we have no guarantees if we do so. How we finish is much more important than how we start. Having done much good doesn't outweigh or balance out our sinful behavior. We better not count on what we've done in the past to"pull us through" times when we choose to willfully disobey God.
What a great site, how do you build such a cool site, its excellent.
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